The Countdown

Return flight to the USA in 2006

Years in the making, long in the coming, but unbelievably, here.  I can remember when we first talked about it, when 15 years in one company seemed so far away.  It was 2006 and we were departing Guangzhou, China as a family of four with our second adopted daughter, Jing, joining 3-year old Xixi (adopted from China 2 years earlier).  

Dawn and I wondered how long it would be before we returned to China.  We almost immediately began talking about 2014 and my sabbatical year.  We knew the girls would be 11 and 9 and ready to explore their heritage in a meaningful and memorable way.  We love China, traveled there before the adoptions and looked forward to when we could return and share their birthplace with our girls. We couldn’t think of a better way to spend the gift of a month-paid away from work.

So here we are, a month or so passed my 15th anniversary at REI (click here to buy some cool stuff) and only days away from departing for a month in Asia.  We'll spend time in each of the girls' home cities, visiting their orphanages and exploring their roots.  We'll then embark on a "grand tour" and see as many of the amazing places in China as possible.  We'll cap of the trip with a few days on the beach in Vietnam before returning home.

We'll try to blog daily, post video commentary from the girls to our YouTube channel and add photos.  We hope you check back often to see how it's going.